Segarra, Bronin Push for Voters on Primary Day

Low turnout is expected for the Hartford Democratic primary, which is expected to be a close race. (Published Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015)

Both candidates vying for the title of Hartford mayor spent Primary Day visiting polling places throughout the capital city.

Luke Bronin, who served as legal adviser to Gov. Dannel Malloy and earned the backing of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee, is going up against incumbent Mayor Pedro Segarra.

"You keep doing what you’ve been doing for the past few months. You try to reach every single voter you can," Bronin said at a polling place in Hartford's Blue Hills neighborhood. "You make sure they know what’s at stake and make sure they get to the polls and cast their vote."

"You continue to go out to the voting places. You continue to engage and talk to people. They ask questions. You answer questions and you encourage them to support you and vote for you and so far the feedback has been very good," he said.

Bronin will not be on the November ballot if he loses in the Democratic primary. He did not collect signatures to stage a run as a petitioning candidate.

"This is it. I’m a Democrat. I’m a proud Democrat. I’m going to respect the results of the Democratic primary and I plan and hope to win the Democratic primary," Bronin said.

Segarra, on the other hand, has the option to remain on the ballot or withdraw from the race if he loses Wednesday's primary.

Low turnout was expected for the Democratic primary election. Few voters, roughly 10 percent, generally show up for such elections, and because the polls are open on a Wednesday rather than a traditional Tuesday election day, turnout was even more of an unknown.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, who said she had to deal with several "minor" voting issues early in the morning, expected more voters to cast ballots than initially thought.